


The Calm within the Storm

by Phoenix_before_the_flame



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 02:41:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17357396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_before_the_flame/pseuds/Phoenix_before_the_flame
Summary: Lucy hates storms with a passion,  they fill her with too much fear but this once it drew a friend near.





	The Calm within the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> A request from a friend on tumblr! 
> 
> As usual please enjoy, leaves comments and kudos!

Lucy shivered, curling into a tighter ball under her blanket as thunder cracked against the sky, a peal louder and more bone shaking than the last. She didn’t need to see to know that Magnolia was dark, the moon blacked out by clouds that never ended. They spat and hissed and growled without mercy, winds howling in between each of the storm’s cries made her stifle a whimper, biting down on her bottom lip a little too hard. Lucy soothed it with a few comforting licks.

She hated it. The storms, the darkness, the chaos. They always made her feel sick and too small, and filled her with too much fear to do anything.

A flash of lightning tore through the darkness, illuminating the little pocket of safety her blanket provided in stark white. It felt cold, that light, and when it went everything else seemed louder. Lucy turned on her side, squeezing her eyes shut and crushing a pillow to her ears in hopes of dampening the sound of rain pounding against the glass, sounding like it’ll crack open and let the chaos inside her apartment any moment now.

Tears prickled at the corners of her eyes threatening to spill out if she opened them. It was stupid, that she knew, to be so afraid of something that couldn’t harm her, to be rendered useless by mere sounds and lights.

Lucy’d been through worse- so, so much worse, where the bright lights could actually slice through her flesh and the sounds were strong enough to make her ears ring on for hours after the fight was over.

Her grasp on the blanket tightened and fought back another shiver that threatened to wrack her whole body.

She hadn’t endured a storm for a while now and despite the tiredness pulling at her mind to go back to sleep, she knew she wouldn’t. Lucy knew better than that, with each passing moment of silence that lulled her to comfort she’d be thrown awake by the storm’s taunts for the rest of the night in an endless, terrifying cycle.

And so lucy laid there, trembling after each thunderous roar and each flash of lightning that made her heart jump to her throat each time without fail. She didn’t even notice when she started whispering, mumbling to herself nonsense words in an attempt to keep calm.

Nor did she notice the hand softly shaking her, the comforting touch registering seconds later when the blanket was gently tugged from her head. Hesitantly, Lucy cracked an eye open.

“Lucy? Are you awake?” Natsu rumbled. His voice was low but still louder than the rain against her window.

He was absolutely sopping from head to toe, hair plastered to his forehead and water dripping through his green gaze, eyebrows knitted together with concern. In fact the only thing not drenched on him was his scarf which was nowhere to be seen leaving his neck oddly bare in what little light the storm provided.

“Natsu? What are you doing here? It’s - ” She stole a glance at the clock on her nightstand, squinting slightly at its hands. A few minutes just shy of midnight. He must’ve been fresh off his last mission.

“ -it’s late. I didn’t give you a spare key so you could crash here when you felt like it.” She tried for a smile but it felt too strained and only made him press his lips in a thin line, worry marring his features.

The sky outside screamed and Lucy flinched back into her covers, instinctively reaching for the only comfort she had right now. Her fingers curled tightly around Natsu’s hand. He only squeezed back in reassurance.

“You’re scared of storms.” He replied, smoothing his thumb over her hand. “I couldn’t just go home knowing that. We had to come see and make sure you were alright.”

We…?

She raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled, releasing her hand only for a moment to unzip his vest and carefully pull out a softly snoring Happy to put into her arms, wrapped tightly in Natsu’s scarf and looking much, much drier than him.

“He fell asleep when the train stopped but I knew he’d want to know if you were ok.” Happy sighed weakly in his sleep and rolled closer to Lucy.

She stared at him curiously with wide eyes, slight disbelief in them as he dried off. Steam rose from his clothes in soft curls that rolled in the air, disappearing like weak smoke.

“You didn’t have to do that. You could’ve gotten sick walking in the rain over here.”

“I’d be a bad friend if I didn’t. Like some rain is gonna stop me from getting to you.” He scoffed, kicking off his sandals.

“It’d be wrong of me to just go home knowing you’re up and afraid.” Natsu whispered reaching for her hand again. “I don’t think I could sleep if I did.” He rubbed at his eyes, drawing her attention to the heavy bags under them, looking unnatural and out of place on his face. Natsu stifled a yawn.

How long had he been gone for on his mission doing god knows what? When was the last he’d gotten a proper night’s rest out there? Her heart panged in her chest, hugging Happy close.

Lucy scooted back closer to the wall, opening up her blanket to him as a silent invitation, frowning when he only pulled it back over and tucked her in with a wry smile.

“You need rest too.” Lucy protested weakly, pulling at his hand.

“And you need it more than me.” He replied. Natsu shifted his position, leaning back against her bed frame. “Don’t worry I’ll kick you out of your bed tomorrow-” He chuckled at her huff “-but that’s after you’ve gotten through the night.”

“But Natsu-”

“No buts Lucy.” He pulled the blanket snug over her head with only a little space for her to peek out at him. “Get some sleep. I’ll be right here with you the entire time. Even if you wake up in the middle of the night. I promise I’ll ride this out with you.”

“I….Thank you, Natsu.” He nodded and hummed in agreement as she closed her eyes, grip never loosening on his hand.

And he kept humming, a soft wavering melody in the storm’s chaos that she latched onto. She didn’t know the tune or if there was even words to the song or if, it was really a song at all but she held onto it. The lightness of his voice and Happy’s soft snores tickling her cheek.

It was the first time she’d slept so soundly through a storm.


End file.
